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Charlie, I was reading your first line and it said you were invited by people AT YOUR BARN. Which makes me think either they were out to get you or assumed you could ride like they did??

Yes, cantering up is rude, but these people should have known you? I do this to friends and they do it to me. We laugh and get the ride started. Is it possible that you misrepresented your riding skills or your horses' skills and or something else?

Yes, that kind of behavior is rude and unsafe. The proper thing for people to do is slow down to a trot or walk and then ask if it is ok to pass. The other rider then has a chance to respond.

I was on a charity ride about a year ago where a small group of riders were exhibiting very similar behavior. They would come up behind people, ask if it was ok to pass and then three strides later they would take off at a flat out gallop.

When they approached my group they asked if it was ok to pass and I said specifically "I think so if you pass at a walk. Some of our horses are off the track but should be ok if you pass at a walk". (I repeated this comment to make sure they heard me)

When they set off at a gallop a few strides later it upset all the horses in my group and it took a while to calm them down. We decided to take the short way back because at that point the ride was kind of ruined for a bunch of us.

You started out with the comment that this occurred when you invited people to ride on your farm.

If I read it right, then the entire fault is yours.

It is your farm. You have a horse that is totally untrained to ride with a group.

You issued the invitation.

Your invitation should have been:

I would like for you to ride with me on my farm. I have a green horse and I have no nerve. I am scared he will do something bad. Therefore I want you to ride with me in a very careful and restrained manner, treating me as you would a child on his first pony.

If you can't ride in a way that will help me keep my horse quiet, then please don't come.

IT IS YOUR FARM.

YOU SET THE RULES.

On my farm, neighbors are welcome to ride.....horses or 4 wheelers...I don't care which but I made the 4 wheelers understand years ago that this farm is not a race track and that my horse is to be respected.

You need to get a sympathetic neighbor to ride with you until your horse is used to horses going away and approaching. Make it a training exercise where yours must stand or walk while he pulls away.

When you and your horse have learned to manage that, pick up the pace.

And bless the rednecks. For they are the ones that feed the cattle when it is snowing or freezing rain so you and I will have meat on the table. They are the ones that put a new roof on your house when it is 100 in the shade and 120 on the roof, so that your house is not ruined by rain.

They are the ones that crawl under your house to fix a leaky pipe, where you are afraid to go because of spiders and snakes.

Rednecks make the world go around and a better place to live.

It takes a tough guy and tough guys sometimes play rough. You just need to make it clear that you are not able to handle it and they will take care of you.

However, I have gone on dozens of trail rides with riders who spook at every obstacle (the horses are fine; the riders are wimpy nuts!) and force the entire group to go at a snail's pace because of their own insecurities, despite initially telling everyone they are experienced trailers. I find that to be equally rude.

Charlie, I was reading your first line and it said you were invited by people AT YOUR BARN. Which makes me think either they were out to get you or assumed you could ride like they did??

Yes, cantering up is rude, but these people should have known you? I do this to friends and they do it to me. We laugh and get the ride started. Is it possible that you misrepresented your riding skills or your horses' skills and or something else?

Just wondering and don't mean this to be snarky...

Lol, no, I get what your trying to ask, I hadn't met these people yet, and frankly I was over the moon to be able to trail ride with someone, they seemed legit. Nice calm horses, two of them were riding bareback and in halters which I have ridden my horse like that before and if you and your horse can handle it, go for it. I told them that I hadn't been out on a trail ride with him in months, and it was windy out so he was a bit up in the air about it so he was nervous.

The two that were riding bareback seemed like they got it, my giant horse is a bit flighty right now, lets be calm, the woman especially was good about it. The third person (whom I later found out was a civil war reenactor) and his horse who's bum was all over was the one that just couldn't figure out how much his actions were upsetting my horse. So I wouldn't say that I misrepresented mine or my horses abilities, no.

You started out with the comment that this occurred when you invited people to ride on your farm.

If I read it right, then the entire fault is yours.

It is your farm. You have a horse that is totally untrained to ride with a group.

You issued the invitation.

Your invitation should have been:

I would like for you to ride with me on my farm. I have a green horse and I have no nerve. I am scared he will do something bad. Therefore I want you to ride with me in a very careful and restrained manner, treating me as you would a child on his first pony.

If you can't ride in a way that will help me keep my horse quiet, then please don't come.

IT IS YOUR FARM.

YOU SET THE RULES.

On my farm, neighbors are welcome to ride.....horses or 4 wheelers...I don't care which but I made the 4 wheelers understand years ago that this farm is not a race track and that my horse is to be respected.

You need to get a sympathetic neighbor to ride with you until your horse is used to horses going away and approaching. Make it a training exercise where yours must stand or walk while he pulls away.

When you and your horse have learned to manage that, pick up the pace.

And bless the rednecks. For they are the ones that feed the cattle when it is snowing or freezing rain so you and I will have meat on the table. They are the ones that put a new roof on your house when it is 100 in the shade and 120 on the roof, so that your house is not ruined by rain.

They are the ones that crawl under your house to fix a leaky pipe, where you are afraid to go because of spiders and snakes.

Rednecks make the world go around and a better place to live.

It takes a tough guy and tough guys sometimes play rough. You just need to make it clear that you are not able to handle it and they will take care of you.

No no no no, lol, no sorry. I'm unsure if I typed that right on my first post, I was invited on a trail ride by other people that board at the farm that I board at.

And for the record, I generally have no problem with rednecks. I hate spiders and therefore thank you rednecks for not giving a single ****. In the event of a zombie apocolypse I will find the nearest group of rednecks and stick with them.

By the way, you have a good sense of humor, so it must have been a rough ride or you would not complain.

OK, so not your farm, but still you should when riding a green horse have an understanding and make it really plain.

Then if they do not work with you, turn around and go home and find someone to ride with that will work with you.

And make it clear that you want them to act as though you are a little kid with your first pony.

I also have an OTTB that I am just getting started with. We would be much farther along but we have had some bad luck in that he stepped on something that went way up in the groove beside his frog, and I mean really deep, and that cost us over 60 days.

And I just had an eye operation that will cost us about 10 days, so we are at about the same stage.

I have ridden him enough on the trail, by myself, to see that he is a real gentleman when riding alone, but I am not going to start him with other horses the way you did.

I work with a plan and he will meet other horses under my terms, starting with conditions I control.

And bless the rednecks. For they are the ones that feed the cattle when it is snowing or freezing rain so you and I will have meat on the table. They are the ones that put a new roof on your house when it is 100 in the shade and 120 on the roof, so that your house is not ruined by rain.

They are the ones that crawl under your house to fix a leaky pipe, where you are afraid to go because of spiders and snakes.

Rednecks make the world go around and a better place to live.

I just had to laugh at this...

Rednecks are the ones who sit at home with their hand in their pants, drinking a beer at 11 a.m. and yelling at the wife/kids/dog to do *something* (get me another beer, answer the phone, make me a sandwich, shut up, whatever...) while they sit on their lazy ass doing nothing.

Rednecks are the ones who trespass on YOUR property while drunk and then want to fight about it when you ask them to leave.

What you described, cssutton, are good, hard-working people - no matter the color of their neck, and I am thankful for their work ethic.

But I agree with everyone else that I think the behavior was rude, and all parties should agree to what kind of ride they want to have before they meet up. Situations like that are why I usually ride alone. I like to walk/trot/canter/gallop on trails as much as anyone else, but I prefer to do it either solo or with others whom I trust to not act like yahoos.

Cantering away without warning is not rude, it is dangerous, no matter what the experience level of horse & rider you are leaving behind. Yes, obviously more dangerous with a greener horse than a trooper, and we should all be able to control our horses, etc. But it is just kind of dumb to do it.

I don't think cantering up to a horse (or person) that I have not ridden with before is such a great idea for any party involved. How many of us have heard about how well behaved Horsie (or kid, or dog) is, only to see the bugger has no manners, etc. Even if had been told that horse they are meeting is an old hand, I would reserve judgement before cantering at them (for my own sake).

Yes, rider should tell anyone that he/she is riding with if horse is green, kicks, etc. However, we should also assume the worse until we learn otherwise from actual experience with horse & rider from the trail.

I do like to gallop around on trails, but some like a more sedate mozy. It def. is best to determine what someone else's preferences are before hand

That is the polite thing to do when hacking with someone you never have ridden with before.

Actually a determination should be made early on as to who is the least experienced or on the most unpredictable horse and the pace and behavior as well as the route be adjusted to take care of that individual or horse.

However, the remark that one should never canter off without warning is not correct in every case.

Those who show must have their horse broke to stand or walk while others trot or canter past.

Look at the cow horses that stand or work their job while a horse very close to them is doing some pretty fast stuff.

Team penning is an example. There are many others.

On the trail, a horse is not broke until he will stand perfectly still until it is his turn to cross a bad creek crossing.

In the hunt field, a horse is not broke until he will stand and wait for 5 or 50 horses to jump a fence before his turn. There are a lot of fences in hunt country that must be taken from a trot, one horse at a time, because of ditches, creek banks, pavement, etc.

When the whip works his way past the field on a narrow trail in the woods, the broke horse must back his tail into the bushes and face the trail so there is no danger of him kicking the whip's horse as he passes.

He must do that with no fuss.

If the whip[ is just changing his position in relation to the field, he may walk past and speak to each member as he passes.

He might be in a moderate hurry and trot by.

If the hounds are headed for a paved road, he will go down that trail like a maniac on a dirt bike. No matter, your horse must not move.

And field reversals, that is a really important one. You horse must stand while maybe 50 horses go past, with his tail in the bushes and his head toward the trail.

There are many other examples, but that makes the point.

For trail riding, it is true that the plan should be adjusted to accommodate the least experienced rider and horse, but all that is doing is acknowledging that one or both is not what we/they hope they will become.

Mr. Sutton, I live in the South (and have for almost 40 of my 67 years ).

I know that there's:

Old Money
Good Old Boys
Rednecks
Crackers
Poor White Trash

The good old boys are the ones who work hard and play hard. They enjoy an occasional Bud Light but generally don't drink 12/night. They believe in family structure but they don't beat their wives or children. They treat others with respect and expect to be treated in the same way (and will let you know if you don't). They judge others, but it's on the other's words and deeds, not on external characteristics. In short, they are the ones who make the world go round. Maybe the best modern example is Mike Rowe.

Sadly, Pocket Pony has nailed the "redneck." By the way, "redneck" is a characterization that is not necessarily based upon geography. I know "rednecks" from WI, CA, ME, NY, NYCity, DC, etc. They're not even all white.

Jeff Foxworthy has made a lot of money off "rednecks" but he's not always accurate. Many of them are not really very funny, particularly when wearing white sheets.

As to the OP, the behavior of the offending group was seriously inconsiderate. If you approach other riders that you don't know then it's always best to slow down and give them some space, if you can. If you can't, then talk to them and give them any issue you have and get any issues from them. How hard can that be?

Rednecks are the ones who sit at home with their hand in their pants, drinking a beer at 11 a.m. and yelling at the wife/kids/dog to do *something* (get me another beer, answer the phone, make me a sandwich, shut up, whatever...) while they sit on their lazy ass doing nothing.

Rednecks are the ones who trespass on YOUR property while drunk and then want to fight about it when you ask them to leave.

What you described, cssutton, are good, hard-working people - no matter the color of their neck, and I am thankful for their work ethic.

But I agree with everyone else that I think the behavior was rude, and all parties should agree to what kind of ride they want to have before they meet up. Situations like that are why I usually ride alone. I like to walk/trot/canter/gallop on trails as much as anyone else, but I prefer to do it either solo or with others whom I trust to not act like yahoos.

lol did you ever live in Johnston County, NC, where rednecks rule?? Sure, there's decent folks too but it seems like it's the rednecks that count.

How could being from California make me ignorant to the redneck? We are a hugely populated state (surely you know California isn't all beaches and movie stars? ), a large percentage of which is rural and farmland. California produces a large percentage of the country's produce, rice, cotton, nuts, etc., not to mention the crops that we export around the world.

I am most certainly aware of the root of the term "redneck," taken in a literal sense that people have "red necks" because of working outdoors in the sunshine to create such a hue. However, the term has evolved to mean more than someone with literally a red neck, and in fact is more of a derogatory term... We have plenty of hard-working people in California, yet those who literally have red necks would not be referred to as "rednecks."

Guilherme hit the nail on the head with regard to different "characterizations" of folks. Since it sounds like you've spent a lot of time in the hunt field, cssutton, despite the color of your neck (and because of your seemingly taking offense at the use of the word), you likely wouldn't be considered a redneck.

s. Since it sounds like you've spent a lot of time in the hunt field, cssutton, despite the color of your neck (and because of your seemingly taking offense at the use of the word), you likely wouldn't be considered a redneck.